It is well known to provide a number of different consumer products in the form of multiple-container packages, or “composite packages,” wherein a quantity of individual containers are bundled together within an exterior packaging to form a single bundled package.
The individual containers are generally of an enclosed or sealed type, so as to maintain the quality of the product within; while the exterior packaging is configured to hold the individual containers together during storage and transport while at the same time being easily opened by the end user.
Such composite packages have been employed in many industries, but are particularly well-known in the food and beverage domain, where it is often desirable from a consumer perspective to purchase large quantities of certain products at once, but where the use of a single large container (e.g. a 5-liter bottle of mineral water) is disfavoured because of inconvenient handling or product degradation after opening. A single large container may also be more difficult to use than an equivalent volume of smaller products, particularly where a liquid product that is dispensed by pouring is involved.
These composite packages are advantageous in that they are generally easier to purchase and store than an equivalent amount of product in bulk form, in a single large container, or in a number of smaller containers purchased individually. Additionally, the exterior packaging may be assigned a unique UPC barcode or price tag, facilitating purchase and inventory.
Since a large number of containers are bundled together into one composite package, the resulting composite package may be quite bulky and difficult to carry in one hand. To this end, means such as handles are generally provided, to facilitate the manipulation and transport of the composite package.
However, these composite packages can be nonetheless uncomfortable and fatiguing to carry in one hand, as composite packages enclosing a large number of containers can be heavy and unwieldy to carry. Such heavy packages can also create a high degree of muscle and joint strain in the user; for instance, particularly bulky composite packages tend to force the user to carry them with his/her arms slightly extended from the body, which forces a pronation of the wrists and strains unnecessarily the arm and wrist muscles. Likewise, carrying a large, heavy package in one hand can make it difficult for the user to maintain equilibrium; such an unbalanced load may, over time, lead to back pain or other orthopaedic ailments in the user.
In the composite packages known in the art, one means of remedying this is to break open the package and remove the individual containers within. However, by doing so, the advantages of having a single composite package with a handle are lost.
Alternately, it is known to provide composite packages which only contain 2 or 4 of the individual containers. However, such an arrangement is not satisfactory, in that in order to yield a composite package with a sufficient volume of product, the individual packages must themselves be rather large and unwieldy. There is thus a need to provide a composite package which resolves at least some of the disadvantages discussed above.